Monday, January 21, 2013

Week 13: Closed. And We Survived.

Well we made it to the other side. I think. We closed on the 14th (pretty schedule accurate, only a day off the original target date!), moved a bunch of things over that weekend and now we're the proud owners of two homes!

I've been tackling a bunch of items that need to get done right away (blinds (deserves its own post), morning room ceiling fan and office light (again, own post), sealing tile, and unpacking. As for moving, did you know you can rent a 26 foot Penske Truck on your regular ol' drivers license? I had to ask three times to make sure, and yes you can! Now I know whenever I see one on the highway to give plenty of space, because it's probably a first time driver like myself!

We got our appliances all delivered and hooked up, Verizon came in and hooked up our FIOS Triple Play. Not sure why they gave us a lower DVR with our multi-room DVR package so I need to give them a call to see if I can get that fixed.

As for the finished product, some things are great, and some need some work. You can tell which subcontractors take pride in their work and others just get it done to get it done. Nothing that can't be resolved in the 30 day and 10 month appointments, but definitely some head shakers in there.

The big issue is the bonus bedroom. It's cold. I mean COLD. For those of you with Victoria Falls builds w/ the bonus room this is a heads up, make sure there's a conversation between you and your PM. We're doing some normal fixes with the HVAC / PM now that we're in there to see if that helps, but variances of over 10 degrees between that and the rest of the house doesn't cut it (and should have failed the Energy Star certification).

As for our backyard, it's been a treasure trove of wildlife. Two separate sightings of deer (group of 5 and a group of 3), birds, and a fox.

I plan on posting all of these "post-closing" items for reference as well as some extra upcoming things in store.

11 comments:

Glad to hear you are getting settled in. I was wondering about the bonus room and heat/cold issues since it's over the garage. Did you do the extra insulation in the garage walls? I was just wondering if that would help. I'm really curious as to how RH corrects this issue for you. We also got the bonus room over the garage.

Do you have a 1 zone or 2 zone HVAC? Honestly I think if they would have done the 2 zone (there's a platform for it in the attic as part of the standard design!) this would be a non-issue. I have no idea how it passed the Energy Star 3.0 since it states no more than a 5 degree temperature deviation between any two points in the house.

We have no extra insulation on those exterior walls in the garage, as well as it's just a steel garage door with no insulation in it.

Just out of curiosity, did they say why they didn't do the 2 zone? They are doing it on ours (Elevation A, no bonus room)and said it is standard. Although the idea of a furnace in the attic is weird, I am hopeful it will make for more consistent temperatures throughout the house.

We have the same issue with our bonus room. During our walk through, our PM warned us about the room being cold in the winter/warm in the summer. He wasn't kidding! Not only is the room above the garage, it also has two exterior walls. We have only one zone and did not add extra insulation in the garage. However, we do have an insulated garage door. It's strange how things vary from region to region. Anyway, I hope your issues are resolved and I'd love the hear what they have to say about the bonus room.

Thanks for the update Brian!!! Wow, the wildlife is on a mission. We have deer in our area but have not seen them in our yard, it may be because of how we are situated. However, there is a farm across the street from us and the cows were trying to make their way over to the community. Imagine that! lol

I really understand how you feel about the bonus room. We don't have the two systems and was told the house has two zones. Really!? How does that work? Because we have to manage the cold/warm temperatures in the basement. Our PM stopped by today and told us to keep the basement door closed when we are in the basement to keep the warmth but it always feels cold to me. In the meantime, we are still testing the system out.

It would be nice to find out what can be done since the bonus room is on the upper level.

Brian, keep us all posted. Really wondering how RH will remedy your issue. When we do begin our build (still under contingency), we'll also have a Vic Falls with a bonus room & finished basement. I'm starting to wonder if we should make any adjustments to the HVAC system in order to heat/cool the property. BTW...your home looks awesome.